$23 Million Security Breach In First Ever Decentralised Exchange Hack

Bancor is a decentralised exchange which allows users to convert their tokens directly from their wallets. At approximately 00:00 UTC on 10th July, 2018 the popular decentralised exchange was hacked. A Total of $23 Million was stole in what appears to be the first ever decentralised exchange hack

Bancor Network completed their ICO in 2017 raising an incredible $153 million. Bancor allows users to connect their Ethereum wallet directly to their exchange, allowing users to convert tokens directly from their wallets. This allows for greater security when trading, although Bancor has become the latest victim of a hack they are adamant that no “user wallets have been compromised”

This morning (CEST) Bancor experienced a security breach. No user wallets were compromised. To complete the investigation, we have moved to maintenance and will be releasing a more detailed report shortly. We look forward to being back online as soon as possible.

First ever decentralised exchange hack

In what appears to be the first ever decentralised exchange hack to our knowledge, Bancor have been updating users via their official twitter account.

It appears that Bancor suffered a security breach. Whilst the full extent of the breach is still being investigated, Bancor reported that a wallet that was being used to upgrade some smart contracts was compromised leading to the loss of 3 different cryptocurrencies.

$23 million security breach

The compromised wallet was one of Bancors online wallets, which was being used to upgrade some smart contracts. The funds which were within the wallet were:

Fortunately Bancor have a security protocol built into their smart contract which allows them to freeze BNT tokens in the event of such a breach. However, the ETH and NXPS which was taken is beyond their control now. They have stated that they are investigating this as we speak. Including working with other exchanges in preventing the stolen fund from being liquidated.

The total amount which is at risk of being stolen is $13.5 million and the stolen ETH can be viewed here, the amount is more but the original wallet in which funds were siphoned from is here. It may be that the NXPS was sold and the total balance was moved to the second address.

Wether the fund will be returned seems unlikely although we will keep you updated on the story, don’t forget to join our Telegram channel for updates and to track our cryptocurrency portfolio.